Oak Ridge Today

Readers ask about layoffs at ORNL, UPF

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign

Photo by ORNL

 

Oak Ridge Today readers have recently asked about layoffs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

In mid-June, ORNL said there had been about 10 employees who were laid off recently. They were from ORNL’s Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate.

“The layoffs were part of the normal course of business at the lab,” ORNL communications media manager Morgan McCorkle said in a statement. “We are constantly adjusting the size of the workforce to ensure efficient operations.”

On Thursday, McCorkle said there haven’t been any additional ORNL staff layoffs since then. ORNL has a staff of 4,750, including scientists and engineers in more than 100 disciplines.

Oak Ridge Today has also received a question from a reader about layoffs reported on the Uranium Processing Facility project, or UPF, at Y-12. [Read more…]

Design complete for Emergency Operations Center at Y-12

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Y‑12’s new Emergency Operations Center will be built east of the existing Plant Shift Superintendent’s building. (Artist concept courtesy NNSA)

Y‑12’s new Emergency Operations Center will be built east of the existing Plant Shift Superintendent’s building. (Artist concept courtesy NNSA)

 

The final design was completed earlier this year for a new Emergency Operations Center at the Y-12 National Security Complex, officials said.

The project will replace an outdated Manhattan Project-era facility by building a new Plant Shift Superintendent’s facility, a new Technical Support Center, and a new plant Fire Department Alarm Room, Y-12 said. The new facility will replace the current Plant Shift Superintendent’s office and Technical Support Center in Building 9706-2. Y-12 will be able to use the new center as an Emergency Command Center for an operational emergency.

Y-12 said the Emergency Operations Center project team completed the final design package ahead of schedule and under budget.

“Completion of the design marks a major milestone in project progress,” Y-12 said in April 18 newsletter. “Using this completed design package, the project team can complete the balance of the project documentation needed to receive authorization for construction from National Nuclear Security Administration.”

On Wednesday, NNSA spokesperson Steven Wyatt said the existing Plant Shift Superintendent’s office is located in the east end of Y-12 south of the Jack Case Center. That office was built in the 1940s and is obsolete, Wyatt said. [Read more…]

Update: Y-12 spill involved less than one gallon of flammable solvent

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Y-12 National Security Complex Scarboro Road Entrance

The Scarboro Road entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above in March 2014. (File photo)

Note: This story was last updated at 3:34 p.m.

The chemical spill at the Y-12 National Security Complex on Tuesday morning involved less than one gallon of a flammable solvent, and the substance has evaporated, a federal official said Tuesday afternoon.

The spilled solvent was acetonitrile, and it’s used in chemical processing at Y-12’s Purification Facility, said Steven Wyatt of the National Nuclear Security Administration.

It spilled onto the floor at about 10:24 a.m. Tuesday. The cause is unknown. The spill was detected by sensors. There was no fire and no injuries.

Wyatt said the acetonitrile was not involved in uranium enrichment work at Y-12. [Read more…]

Update: Y-12 chemical spill contained; less than 10 workers in building at time of spill

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Y-12 Aerial Photo June 2012

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is pictured above in June 2012. (Photo courtesy NNSA)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1:12 p.m.

The Purification Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge was evacuated Tuesday morning after a chemical spill, officials said. Fewer than 10 people were in the building at the time of the spill, and none were in the immediate area.

There were no injuries, and federal officials and Y-12 staff have accounted for all workers, the National Nuclear Security Administration said.

The spilled material is acetonitrile, a liquid solvent used in chemical processing operations, said Steven Wyatt of the NNSA.

Everyone was evacuated from the building, which is on the east end of the plant, Wyatt said. The spill was reported at 10:24 a.m. Tuesday.

[Read more…]

Y-12 prepared for possible Ferguson-related protests, but none reported

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Y-12 Prepares Ferguson Protest Preparations

The Y-12 National Security Complex and City of Oak Ridge prepared for possible protests related to the announcement of the grand jury decision in Ferguson, Missouri, on Monday night. Y-12 had appeared on a list of possible Ferguson-related demonstration sites, but there didn’t appear to have been any protests at Y-12 as of Tuesday afternoon.

 

The Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge and regional law enforcement agencies had prepared for possible protests at Y-12 on Monday, when the grand jury decision was announced in Ferguson, Missouri, but there didn’t appear to have been any protests at the Oak Ridge plant as of Tuesday afternoon.

Y-12 had appeared among a list of demonstration sites on the Ferguson National Response Network Web page. The Y-12 protest was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Monday, the day of the grand jury announcement, and demonstrators were asked to bring cell phones, cameras, signs, and megaphones.

But there didn’t appear to be anyone near the Scarboro road entrance to Y-12 at about 6:30 p.m. Monday or later at about 9:30 p.m. Scarboro Road was hemmed in on one side by Y-12’s temporary fence and on the other by City of Oak Ridge traffic barrels, cones, and police tape. Temporary barricades were erected to block Y-12’s entrances, and concrete barriers inside the main entrance appeared to have been angled in the roadway to deter or slow down unwanted visitors. [Read more…]

Responding to traffic delays, Y-12 asks for volunteers to start work later beginning July 8

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Y-12 National Security Complex Traffic

Responding to morning traffic delays, particularly at its east entrance on Bear Creek Road, the Y-12 National Security Complex has asked some employees to volunteer to start their work day later after July 8.

Responding to morning traffic delays at its entrances, the Y-12 National Security Complex has asked some employees to volunteer to come into work later in the day starting July 8.

Significant traffic delays have been an issue since a lost driver who did not have a badge or permission to be at Y-12 said she was waved into the nuclear weapons plant on June 6.

Since then, Y-12 officials have said the plant has changed its approach to checking badges at the east and west gates. The more rigorous security checks are “here to stay,” B&W Y-12 General Manager Chuck Spencer said in a June 27 message to employees.

But the new procedures have led to traffic delays, particularly at the east entrance between 5:15 and 6:15 a.m., when vehicles can back up as far as the former Dean Stallings Ford on South Illinois Avenue. [Read more…]

Three officers, one supervisor suspended after unbadged driver enters Y-12

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Security Officers at Y-12 East Gate

Security police officers stand guard during an August 2012 peace protest at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex at Bear Creek and Scarboro roads.

Four guards have been suspended at the Y-12 National Security Complex after a woman who did not have permission to be at the nuclear weapons plant drove through the main entrance on Thursday morning and was stopped a short time later, a federal spokesman said Monday.

The woman, who said she was looking for a new, low-cost apartment complex, followed morning commuters through the east gate at Bear Creek and Scarboro roads and drove unhindered through the plant before she was stopped by security officers at the west gate, according to an Oak Ridge Police Department report. Brenda L. Haptonstall, 62, told ORPD Officer Roy J. Heinz that she thought there must have been a crash at Y-12 because there were “nice officers waving her through with illuminated flashlight cones,” the report said. [Read more…]

Y-12 security failed to follow procedure, allowed driver to enter site, NNSA says

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Security Officers at Y-12 East Gate

Security police officers stand guard during an August 2012 peace protest at the east gate and main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex at Bear Creek and Scarboro roads.

Police officers at the Y-12 National Security Complex failed to follow established procedures when they allowed an Oak Ridge woman who did not have permission to be at the nuclear weapons plant to drive through the main entrance at Scarboro Road on Thursday morning, federal officials said.

Brenda L. Haptonstall, 62, told Oak Ridge police she was looking for a new, low-cost apartment complex and followed morning commuters through the east gate at the Y-12 National Security Complex at about 6:10 a.m. Thursday.

An Oak Ridge Police Department report said Haptonstall drove unhindered through the plant before she was stopped by security officers at the west gate. Haptonstall told ORPD Officer Roy J. Heinz that she thought there must have been a crash at Y-12 because there were “nice officers waving her through with illuminated flashlight cones,” the report said. [Read more…]

Trespassing at Y-12 costs U.S. government thousands of dollars, NNSA says

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There is a greater threat of trespassing at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the National Nuclear Security Administration said last week when it announced plans for a new fence that would block a traditional protest area at the plant’s main entrance.

And the costs of responding to those threats are increasing, the NNSA said.

“Responding to these illegal acts of trespassing has cost the U.S. government thousands of dollars of additional expenses above and beyond what we have to spend to protect the plant during major protests,” the NNSA said in a statement released by spokesman Steven Wyatt on Saturday. “The security-related costs required to respond to protests is very large, but we cannot discuss our specific costs.” [Read more…]

Y-12 union workers vote Friday on contract extension, 2.5 percent raise

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Y-12 National Security Complex

About 1,200 hourly union workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex, pictured above, will vote Friday on a 14-month contract extension and a 2.5 percent wage increase. (Submitted photo)

Hourly union workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex will vote Friday on whether to accept a 14-month contract extension and a 2.5 percent wage increase, an official said.

There would be no changes to worker benefits, said Steve Jones, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council.

If approved, the 14-month contract extension would become effective April 22 and last through June 20, 2014. It would apply to roughly 1,200 union members at Y-12. It would not affect ATLC members at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge peace group has vigil today despite plans for fence at Y-12

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The government’s decision to erect a new fence in front of the Y-12 National Security Complex could affect plans for an annual spring demonstration next Saturday, but the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance announced it will have its weekly Sunday vigil today.

The group said the decision by the National Nuclear Security Administration to close off the area immediately outside the Y-12 gates at the intersection of East Bear Creek and Scarboro Roads is “aimed at preventing demonstrations and peace vigils by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance and others.” [Read more…]

Y-12 protesters say fence hole remains after break-in, officials say it’s repaired

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Hole in Y-12 Perimeter Fence

The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance says three protesters crossed into the Y-12 National Security Complex through this hole the trio cut in a perimeter fence before dawn on July 28, and OREPA alleges that the hole had not been repaired as of Monday. (Submitted photo)

More than four months after three protesters broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex, a hole that the trio cut in a perimeter fence still hasn’t been repaired, an Oak Ridge group said Wednesday.

In a statement, the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, which has supported the Y-12 protesters, said two OREPA members went to the nuclear weapons plant on Monday and, after 15 minutes of walking, found the spot where the protesters had cut through an outer fence. It was open from the ground up to a spot about four feet high—a hole large enough for a person to squeeze through, the group said.

But in a statement Thursday afternoon, federal officials said the fence has been repaired.

[Read more…]